The present invention relates to a door assembly for the side closure of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle, arranged to be connected to the carrying structure of the vehicle. In particular, the door assembly according to the invention is apt to be utilized in combination with a carrying structure having a mechanical resistance function and provided with two sides, each of which comprises substantially at least three substantially vertical stanchions and two substantially horizontal side members connected to one another.
As is well-known, the doors of a motor vehicle, which normally are formed by a plurality of panel-shaped elements rigidly connected to each other by welding, are hinged to a stanchion of the body of the vehicle; usually, the seal between the door and the bodywork is obtained by interposing a gasket member between the rim portions of the door and the corresponding abutment surfaces of the bodywork.
However, the bodyworks provided with doors of the type described hereinabove give rise to some constructional problems.
First of all, each door, owing to the rather large dimensions of the panels of which it is made and the considerable deformability of these latter, can be constructed only with large dimensional and form tolerances, and therefore, when the door, after having been fixed to the respective stanchion of the bodywork, is brought to its closure position, it is hardly able to cooperate in a correct manner with the said abutment surfaces intended to provide a seal with the bodywork.
Therefore, in the course of the assembly of the door onto the bodywork it is necessary to carry out fitting operations on each door, so as to suitably deform it in order to allow a suitable coupling of the door with the respective abutment surfaces; such operations require rather long times and have to be carried out by operators having particular ability and experience.
In addition, each door has a rather complex structure and a high weight, due to the numerous component elements of which it is made and which exert simultaneously both the function of mechanical resistance and the function of closing and protecting the passenger compartment against the external environment.